Sunday, October 18, 2015

We Bought Land

We've mentioned Trentham in past posts on the Blog before - it sits on the Victorian Great Dividing Range at 700m above sea level and in winter it is one of the few towns than can get snow. It is a cooler climate area. There is a population of around 1400. Much the same size of the French villages that we have stayed in during our travels in rural France. Living in rural France has always been a bit of a fantasy of ours but Trentham just might be a small compromise of the dream.

It just so happened that we saw advertised, a block of land for sale during last week and so we decided to travel up to look at it Friday - only out of interest. We liked the look of it and then went to visit friends who live in Trentham. They came back to look at it with us and before we knew it, we were back at the real Estate office putting in an offer - it was accepted. Panic stations!!!

The block is a town block which is less that 500m from the main shopping hub of Trentham. Amongst the usual tourist shops are the bank, news agency bakery, two hotels and several cafes. I'll never be far from a good coffee after a ride.

I guess we have to start looking at what type of house we can build on the block. It needs to be energy efficient and sympathetic to the local environment. It might have an early style architecture, or then again maybe very modern. One thing for sure - it will have Sue's dream kitchen.

This is the front of the block facing the street. The two small trees to the right will need to be removed to allow for entering the block. The size is 1110 square metres.

Looking down towards the other end of the block just beyond the last lot of trees you can see what is a Crown Land Reserve that gives an impression that the block is almost twice the size.

In the fist third of the block is this magnificent tree that has come into full bloom. It could make a great summer retreat if we trimmed the lower branches.

Now looking from the lower end of the block towards the front.

Trentham takes its name from the English town in Staffordshire with the first survey in 1857. Acreage from 99 to 595 were sold not much later. 1864 was the year that the area was surveyed for the town with most blocks being around half an acre. Trentham was built on the timber industry and prospered when the railway came from Daylesford. Timber was brought by dray to the railway and transported to Daylesford. There are still several of the early buildings surviving and although the railway has closed, the station remains as one of the town's attractions.

Much to Sue's liking, Trentham and the surrounding towns encompass a very enthusiastic foodie culture that promotes the local produce.

12 comments:

Perfect location - the bank, news agency bakery, two hotels and several cafes. What else do foodies need?

So sorry the railway has closed; back in the 1980s I depended on the railways going to and from Melbourne 5 times a day in each direction! But at least you know the station remains as an attractive piece of functional architecture.

What else do we need? A social circle and that seems to be happening with friends who live there from our classic car brigade and a few cycling friends from the past. I'm sure will will blend in fairly quickly Hels.

By coincidence, in the UK, we live very close (about a 15 minute drive) from Trentham, in Staffordshire. I go there every couple of weeks. More of a village on the edge of the urban area of Stoke on Trent, it has wonderful walks in the grounds of Trentham gardens. When we get back from France I'll take some photographs.

Congratulations both! Scary isn't it? It looks like a beautiful piece of land . It will be a great adventure designing and building. Will you live in Trentham while it is being built?All the best for the upcoming auction.Janine

Janine - thinking of renting nearby. Strangely enough, I can keep working a little longer should I feel the need as it takes less time from Trentham to my office than it does from our current home. There's a freeway all the way where at the moment, I'm in peak hour traffic with over an hour of travel, sometimes 1.5 hrs.

Only time will tell Diane but as I said in the Blog, it has a feeling of living a life similar to the one you and our bloggers in the Loire. You make friends and they find you. You and Nigel have a little spot in our friendship memories.

Looking at the pictures you have taken, it looks like a really nice piece of land you have managed to acquire. A few years ago a friend of mine bought a large area of land that looked similar to yours before he built a house there. Now it makes for a lovely home all year round and he loves it.

Do they have zoning laws over there? If not, then it might be the perfect place to establish a small place where all the tourists can meet to start a food tour. It would be great income and you love food anyway so combining the two might make perfect sense. It could also provide income for the house of your dreams.